Sun’s Flares Revealed as Magnetic Avalanches, Solar Orbiter Finds

ESA’s Solar Orbiter watched an avalanche of smaller magnetic disturbances cascade into a mid‑class solar flare, revealing how energy is released in the sun’s corona through a sequence of reconnection events. The multi‑instrument observations (EUI, SPICE, STIX, PHI) tracked rapid changes over about 40 minutes, with the findings published in Astronomy & Astrophysics. This work advances understanding of flare triggers and could improve forecasting of Earth‑impacting solar activity.